The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The ... - josephprestonkirk

RANDALL D. CHESNUTT 401
QUMRAN FEVER
In the early days after the dramatic discoveries of 1947, three factors converged
to draw Joseph and Aseneth into the Qumran orbit and create an
atmosphere conducive to Qumran fever. First, Joseph and Aseneth’s Essene
affinities had been suspected long before 1947. As early as 1902, K.
Kohler discerned “indisputable elements of Essene lore” in Aseneth’s
penitential prayer and in Levi’s disclosure of heavenly secrets, 13 and in
1922, P. Riessler argued for the Essene origins of the work on the basis
of such parallels as the white clothing, prayer toward the sun, the exaltation
of virginity, and the sacred meal. 14 Naturally these early views commanded
a fresh hearing in the aftermath of the initial Qumran
discoveries. Second, in a seminal article in 1952, G. D. Kilpatrick introduced
Joseph and Aseneth into the study of Christian origins. Kilpatrick
suggested that the apocryphon’s bread-cup-ointment formula reflects a
religious meal distinct from Passover but closely related to the Last
Supper, and speculated that a comparable sacred meal would turn up in
the recently discovered Dead Sea Scrolls. 15 Third, a major topic in early
studies of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian origins was precisely the
topic wherein Kilpatrick had proposed a connection between Joseph and
Aseneth and Christianity—the sacred meal of the bread and cup. 16 The
stage was therefore set for Joseph and Aseneth and the Dead Sea Scrolls to
be studied in close connection with each other, first with regard to the
sacred meal and then, inevitably, on other matters as well.
What Kilpatrick could only imagine became a reality in a 1957 article
by K. G. Kuhn. 17 In exploring the Lord’s Supper in the light of Qumran
practice, Kuhn suggested that the sacred meal in Joseph and Aseneth and
13. Kaufmann Kohler, “Asenath, Life and Confession or Prayer of,” JE 2:172–76.
Kohler did not specify what the “indisputable” Essene elements are.
14. Paul Riessler, “Joseph und Asenath: Eine altjüdische Erzählung,” TQ 103
(1922): 1–22, 145–83; see also idem, Altjüdisches Schrifttum ausserhalb der Bibel
(Augsburg: Filser, 1928; repr. Heidelberg: Kerle, 1966), 497–538, 1303–4.
15. George D. Kilpatrick, “The Last Supper,” ExpTim 64 (1952): 4–8.
16. E.g., see Karl G. Kuhn, “Über den ursprünglichen Sinn des Abendmahles un
sein Verhältnis zu den Gemeinschaftmahlen der Sektenschrift,” EvT 10 (1950–51):
508–27.
17. Karl G. Kuhn, “The Lord’s Supper and the Communal Meal at Qumran,” in
The Scrolls and the New Testament (ed. K. Stendahl; New York: Harper and Brothers,
1957), 65–93. In an earlier version of this article (see the previous note), Kuhn had
not included Joseph and Aseneth, but now, building on Kilpatrick’s study, he not only
includes it but has it figure quite prominently. See also Karl G. Kuhn, “Repas cultuel
essénien et cène chrétienne,” in Les Manuscrits de la Mer Morte: Colloque de Strasbourg
25–27 mai 1955 (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1957), 75–92.